Drink up the grief
by Freya's Valhalla
Summary: In the aftermath of Beth's death, Daryl and Maggie mourn together with the help of whisky and conversation. Bethyl. Oneshot. Canon, but some AUish liberties are taken.


_**This is my way of dealing with Beth Greene's demise. I really think she deserved a better ending or at least, a better death.**_

…

"_There's still good people, Daryl."_

"_I don't think the good ones survive." _

**...**

He's not really sure how he got his hands on it in the first place; after all, he's been staring off the distance for hours now, but the whisky bottle is growing on him, and he welcomes every drop eagerly. It's warm outside; no wind to catch in your hair or breeze to smother your sweat, and Daryl just sits there, drowning in grief sip by sip. The sun will set soon. He knows in his gut that he should head to the campsite, mope around with the rest of them and maybe do something useful, but he stays still; silence only broken by the sound of the liquor sliding up and down the glass. He hears the rustling of leaves and twigs cracking under footsteps, but doesn't even bother to glance up; he's certain it's not a walker, so he has no reason to even feign interest. Someone sits next to him and he can see out of the corner of his eye that it's Maggie. He swallows hard; unfortunately for her, she makes his head spin and his insides clench. Maggie lets her arms fall over her bent knees, just like Daryl, and closes her eyes. It's been five days since Beth's lifeless body hit the hospital ground hard and it's become some sort of ritual; Daryl and Maggie sitting around in the forest near sunset together. Neither of them has exchanged any words as of yet, but Maggie is now at least able to stop herself from weeping like a child in his presence.

"Can I have some?" She asks, and Daryl is waiting for the _Daddy would hate this _speech, but it never follows, so he hands her the bottle and she grips it tight before taking a long drink. It burns her throat and she squeezes her eyes shut before savoring the aftermath. Maybe if she drinks lots of this shit her throat will scorch her from inside out and she'll never have to sob again.

"Before all of this went down, I used to tell her that as soon as she turned twenty-one I'd buy her her first drink, whatever she wanted, 'td be on me", Maggie whispered, "That's what sisters are for…" She trailed off, biting her lower lip. Daryl picked up on Maggie's words; he was listening to the conversation going around him for the first time in days.

"She did", he blurted out. Maggie's gaze was glued to the ground.

"What?"

Daryl reached for the bottle and took it.

"She did have her first drink. She asked for it and I fetched her some Moonshine", he took a sip of whisky and quickly added, "I'd already checked it out before that day. Strong shit."

Maggie let out a strangled laugh.

"Ya gave my little sister Moonshine." It almost came out as a question. She kept on quietly laughing. "Well at least she got a taste of alcohol, I guess. Did she get drunk?" Maggie looked up at him.

Blue glimmering eyes, sweet smiles on pale lips. That's what he remembered.

"Yeah…"

There were many more things Daryl remembered.

"I told her she'd never see you again", he choked out. Maggie stiffened. Silence hung between them; thick and hot and accusing. "I didn't mean it", his thoughts spilled out in pieces, "I was just pissed. Pissed cause I wanted her to pull through. She _deserved_ to pull through… Fuck." He's about to take another drink, but Maggie snatches the bottle for herself. She doesn't drink though, just holds the bottle between her hands as she stares up at the sky.

"You were right, then", Maggie pauses. "And you're an asshole, but a good one. You took care of my sister."

More sweet smiles, hands holding his, songs sung amidst chaos; that's what Daryl wants to keep in his memory.

"Not well enough", he spats. He should've taught her better, made her stronger… but then again, she was dead _because_ she'd become fiercer. She could've simply walked out of that building with them. Instead, she chose to fight, in her own deadly way.

"But I'm glad she was with you. When we got split at the prison…" Maggie's thoughts wander. If only she had looked as hard for Beth as she had for Glenn, maybe she would've gotten a chance to see her one more time. "I thought she might have died in the run; then I thought she might die out there all alone, trying to survive in the wilderness. But she was with you. I wish I'd known."

Daryl briefly wonders if Maggie would be as glad if she knew what they'd done that night before he'd lost Beth; that her beloved little sister had died much more a woman than a girl. For now, he plans on taking that knowledge to his grave, seeing as Beth took it to hers.

"She missed you", Daryl tells Maggie instead. "She missed your Old Man too, and your brother, talked about you and Glen popping some babies."

Maggie grins and rubs her eyes dry; she can feel the rush of tears coming. Daryl remembers how small Beth had looked in his arms, all smooth white flesh and big eyes. She'd wrapped her arms around him at any chance, and he'd just marveled at her every touch and word; half terrified, half grateful throughout it all. In the end, she'd rolled onto her stomach, slipped one hand under it and joked about little Dixons as she smiled at him playfully before searching for something to cover herself with. Daryl had just lain there, watching Beth blush and grow shy all over again. He'd pulled her close, taking her by surprise; and he'd buried his face in her neck. For the first and last time.

"What else did she talk about?" Maggie asked, interrupting his thoughts. "It feels like forever since I last heard her voice." There was a long silence. "Ya think… ya think I'll forget?" She gripped a handful of grass. "I'm starting to forget Shawn's face, and Momma's… I don't wa- I can't forget Beth's face, or her voice."

"You won't", Daryl quickly interjects. _Because if you do it means I will too. _"You'll remember", he can feel his voice waver. "We'll remember", he assures Maggie, and when he looks up at her finds Maggie staring right back at him. Daryl thinks that maybe right now and then, Maggie sees it all.

…

"_You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon."_

…

_**Aaand I'm still frustrated with how things turned out, but writing this helped a little. I'd love to hear the thoughts of you out there who are also upset with what went down in the mid-season finale.**_

_**Also, I hope nobody was disturbed by the implicit sexual elements I added. I just think it could've happened and I would've really liked to see some romance flourish between these two.**_


End file.
